Digithoughts

Tesla Model 3 unveiled

The Tesla Model 3 is finally announced! It will be released in 2017 and the price starts at $35,000. The car looks great, even though I'm not totally convinced about that face. I prefer the grille from the Model X.  

Apple's new Music Memos app | The Verge

Spotify is going to keep missing out on big albums | Engadget

Coldplay (Ghost Stories and Mylo Xyloto), Adele (21), the Black Keys (Turn Blue), and Taylor Swift (Red and 1989) have all withheld albums from the service temporarily or indefinitely for a single reason: the company's free tier.

Spotify's free tier has been instrumental in growing the company’s user base. But today, I believe that consumers are much more used (and willing) to pay a monthly fee for content than they were for just a couple of years ago. Spotify doesn't need to ditch its free tier entirely, but it's time to seriously consider giving artists the option to release content exclusively on the premium tier in order to get better paid. It would enable Spotify to offer more premium content as well as give its paying customers a better experience – and hence also convert more free subscribers into premium ones. It would also help to shape up Spotify's bottom line. It’s easy to forget that the company is still losing money. 

Update: The Wall Street Journal, December 8th:

In private talks, Spotify has told music executives that it is considering allowing some artists to start releasing albums only to its 20 million-plus subscribers, who pay $10 a month, while withholding the music temporarily from the company’s 80 million free users.

Historical Perspectives: The very first smartwatch | Hodinkee

Hewlett-Packard's HP-01 from 1977 featured a 28 button keyboard and LCD display and it was even able to store and recall data.

"The HP-01 is a digital electronic wristwatch, a personal calculator, an alarm clock, a stopwatch, a timer, a 200 year calendar...and yet it is more than all of these."

"With the HP-01, you can compute and then count down the time it takes for a command to reach a spacecraft several hundred million miles away."

The Light L16 camera is 16 cameras in one | The Verge

The L16 has 16 individual cameras and 10 of them can fire simultaneously. The device can therefore capture a scene at multiple fixed focal lengths. The images are computationally fused to create a high-quality final image with up to 52 megapixel resolution. The camera is even able to adjust focus and depth of field after the photo is taken. 

It’s an innovative idea and I hope the camera can deliver on its promises. It will be interesting to see how the device will fare in independent reviews. The Light L16 can be pre-ordered for $ 1,300 with an estimated shipping date of mid 2016. 

Microsoft announces all the things 

Nowadays, Microsoft is a serious consumer electronics device vendor and the company presented a load of hardware at its October 6th event:

- A developer version of the VR HoloLens will be available in Q1-2016 for $ 3,000. Cool!

- An new version of the Microsoft Band is ready. The wearable band now has Cortina integration, a curved gorilla glass display and the device is fully packed with fitness centric features such as continuous heart rate monitoring, UV monitoring, GPS, a barometer and Microsoft Health integration. The Microsoft Band can be preordered today for $250 and it will be available at the end of October.

- Microsoft unveiled three new Windows 10 Lumia phones including the high-end 950 ($550) and 950XL ($650) devices and the budget Lumia 550 ($140). The 950 devices feature USB-C connectors, 5.2” or 5.7” high resolution OLED displays, 20 MP cameras with optical image stabilisation, 32GB of storage and support for additional SD card storage. The devices will be out at the end of November. Reasonable specs for high-end devices, but I’ve been burned before by Microsoft’s mobile eco system.

- The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 is the company’s new tablet. The device fits a larger 12.3”  2,736 x 1,824 resolution display in the same design foot print as last years’ Surface Pro 3. The Surface Pro is 30 percent faster than the SP3 and comes with an updated Surface Pen. The pen features 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, one year battery life and nifty magnetic storage. The new and slimmer Type Cover has a 40 percent larger glass track pad and updated key mechanism compared to previous models. The Surface Pro 4 will be available at the end of October with prices starting at at $899.

LG Watch Urbane 2 brings cellular connectivity to Android Wear | Android Central

LG has provided a sneak peek of the LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition, the first Android Wear device to feature cellular connectivity. With the option to connect via 4G, 3G, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, LG's newest wearable device works seamlessly with Android smartphones or can go it alone, when carrying a smartphone isn't practical or convenient.

I can think of a lot of times when it’s really not very convenient to bring my big phone. The LG Watch Urbane 2nd Edition is the most fully packed Android Wear watch to date and features cellular connectivity, GPS, hart rate monitor and a circular 480x480 pixel display. 

Tesla's Model X is here

Google shows off new Nexus phones, Chromecasts and a tablet

Yesterday, Google presented two new phones, two new Chromecast devices and a new Android powered Pixel tablet. The updated Chromecast app looked like a nice step forward. I'm glad to see that Spotify finally is on board, which will be a good fit for the new Chromecast Audio dongle. It's also great that Google returned to form with the Nexus 5X. A reasonable sized Nexus phone should be a given in the Nexus line-up.  

Google highlighted the cameras in the new phones. The hardware definitely looks up to the task to take on Apple's iPhones, but Google has let us down before with wacky camera software. Also, I would have preferred to see optical stabilization in the devices, which really helps to make handheld videos more enjoyable.  

Pebble Time Round Hands On | Gizmodo

Apple aims to finalize its first electric-car in 2019 | WSJ

Apple is accelerating efforts to build an electric car, designating it internally as a “committed project” and setting a target ship date for 2019, according to people familiar with the matter.

It’s time for VW to stop faking and start making. 

A few thoughts on the new Apple TV

Apple had a lot to present at the event last night. New iPhones with 3D Touch and a new big iPad Pro with an optional stylus among other things. It was interesting to see Microsoft take the stage as a major productivity app developer. A sign of both new and old times. However, I'm more interested in the new Apple TV. This time it will come with a new fancy remote and a proper app store. The new Apple TV actually looks to be a great device for both media consumption and casual gaming. It's pricier than many of the other streaming boxes on the market. But I think $149 for the 32GB version is both fair and affordable considering what it brings to the table in terms of specs, ecosystem and remote functionality. I'm happy to see that there isn’t any 8GB or 16GB options available. It shows that Apple means business with its "The future of TV is apps" strategy.

Apple TV specs:

64-bit A8 processor

32GB or 64GB of storage

2GB of RAM

10/100Mbps Ethernet

WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac

1080p resolution

HDMI

Siri voice control remote with touchpad, accelerometer and gyroscope

Support for MFi-based gaming controllers

The $35,000 Tesla Model 3 is on track to be out in two years

Looking forward to see what Elon Musk can deliver for $35k. Here's his tweet from yesterday:

Model 3, our smaller and lower cost sedan will start production in about 2 years. Fully operational Gigafactory needed.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk)

Apple TV 4 - Gaming and Siri will be major focuses | 9to5Mac

One of the next Apple TV’s tentpole features will be near-universal Siri control, a feature hinted at in Apple’s invitation to the event. But the other will be deep support for gaming, representing Apple’s largest-ever effort to lure players from traditional consoles. In addition to the convenience of downloading games directly from the Apple TV’s built-in App Store, and controlling many of them via a new bundled remote control, Apple will also support more complex, console-style Bluetooth game controllers with the pressure-sensitive buttons and joysticks previously introduced for iPhones, iPads, and iPod touches…

Android Wear now works with iPhones | Google

Android Wear for iOS is rolling out today. Just pair your iPhone (iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, or 6 Plus running iOS 8.2+) with an Android Wear watch to bring simple and helpful information right to your wrist

Google announces plans for new operating structure

Larry Page:

Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable. So we are creating a new company, called Alphabet. I am really excited to be running Alphabet as CEO with help from my capable partner, Sergey, as President.

What is Alphabet? Alphabet is mostly a collection of companies. The largest of which, of course, is Google.

Alphabet is about businesses prospering through strong leaders and independence. In general, our model is to have a strong CEO who runs each business, with Sergey and me in service to them as needed.

This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google.